The 2014 Emmy Award Winners

Risks may have been taken, but the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards tonight played it very safe – for the most part picking familiar winners from previous years in many categories rather than rewarding some of the more critically acclaimed fare out there.

The final season of “Breaking Bad” dominated the drama category, nabbing almost all the awards in it including Best Drama series, three acting nods, and best writing. In fact the only major awards for drama it missed out on were best actress which went to Juliana Marguiles in “The Good Wife” and best directing which went to “True Detective”.

Speaking of “True Detective,” HBO took a gamble by opting to play it as a nominee for drama series rather than a mini-series where it would’ve dominated. It lost that gamble, but its loss proved to be a win for the BBC’s “Sherlock” which took three of the awards in that category including acting honors for its two leading stars. “Fargo” scored best mini-series and Jessica Lange once again nabbed best actress in that category, while HBO’s “The Normal Heart” took best TV movie.

Comedy was all familiar faces with “Modern Family” dominating, Julia-Louis Dreyfuss winning best actress for “Veep” and Jim Parsons taking best actor for “The Big Bang Theory”. Allison Janney was a double winner for supporting actress in a comedy and guest actress in a drama.

Including the various tech awards (many not broadcast), “Sherlock” was ultimately the biggest winner with seven awards followed by “Breaking Bad” with six, “True Detective: with five, and a three-way tie between “Game of Thrones,” “Cosmos” and “American Horror Story: Coven” with four.

Here’s the full list of this year’s winners:

Best Drama Series“Breaking Bad”

Best Comedy Series“Modern Family”

Outstanding Miniseries“Fargo”

Outstanding Television Movie“The Normal Heart”

Lead Actor in a Drama SeriesBryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad”

Lead Actress in a Drama SeriesJulianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”

Lead Actor in a Comedy SeriesJim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory”

Lead Actress in a Comedy SeriesJulia-Louis Dreyfus, “Veep”

Lead Actor In A Miniseries Or A MovieBenedict Cumberbatch, “Sherlock”

Lead Actress In A Miniseries Or A MovieJessica Lange, “American Horror Story: Coven”